The valuation is a quantum jump over the $5.3 billion offered by Visa.

Fintech Plaid announced today its Series D round funding of $425 million at a valuation of $13.4 billion according to a report by CNN.

The round was led by Altimeter Capital with participation from new investors, Silver Lake and Ribbit Capital. Earlier investors Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and New Enterprise Associates also participated.

Plaid, Visa, the pandemic

The transaction shows how Plaid has benefited from the collapse of its deal to be acquired by Visa (NYSE: V) for $5.3 billion. Its valuation has jumped, not least because the pandemic dealt a huge shot in the arm for its business.

Plaid enables linkages between people’s bank accounts and the various financial apps they use for managing finances – for example, Venmo, Coinbase, and Expensify. Because of the pandemic, people across the world shifted to digital transactions.

Unsurprisingly, hundreds of new banks joined its platform, and over 4,000 companies turned to it for the infrastructure to support their businesses. Many of these are the largest Fortune 500 companies, Perret (pictured above) said in a blog in January.

Its customer base jumped 60% in 2020, according to the company.

Plaid terminated its deal with Visa because according to Perret, “the pace of a multi-year regulatory review is not compatible with the fast-moving realities of a startup.” The Department of Justice had sued to block the deal, alleging that it would limit competition in the payments industry.

Use of funds

Plaid will primarily use the new funding to boost its workforce as well as its product lineup. However, it also has “opportunistic” ambitions, according to TechCrunch.

“Plaid is focused on creating a single, integrated platform focused on helping innovators build digital financial products,” Perret said in a blog announcing the funding. “Doing so requires scaling to meet the increased use of fintech, expanding globally to meet international demand, and delivering an expanded set of platform products to our customers.”

Related Story:  Irate Users Haul Plaid To Court on Alleged Privacy Violations      

Image of Zach Perret: Plaid